Politics in Greece

Today in class we took lots of notes on the politics in Greece. Here is some of the vocab:

Polis- policy, political and formal name for a city state

Monarchy- rule by a single person such as a king

Aristocracy- rule by a group of noble, very rich, landowning families

Oligarchy- wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized with power(military help)

Tyrant- powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people support

Hoplites-Well armed soldier

Tyrant- Someone who rules outside the framework of the polis. 

During the 6th-7th century BCE, aristocrats ran most of Greece. Aristocrats were the ruling class of ancient Greece. The aristocrats attended symposiums which consisted of elite men, enjoy wine, poetry, performances by dancers, acrobats, and hetears while discussing politics. Only male citizens of Athens were allowed in politics. No women,middle class, slaves, or foreigners were allowed in politics. There were even certain aristocrats who were excluded for not having connections or who fell out. The aristocrats sometimes even formed alliances with hoplites and set up on alternative form of gov't called a tyranny. Next we discussed major rules of Ancient Athens. First there was Draco around 621 BCE. His code was;

• All Athens(rich or poor) are equal under the law
• Death is the punishment for many crimes( harsh punishments for minor crimes) 
• Debt slavery is OK( Work as slave to repay debt

Solon's Reform in 594BCE consisted of; 

• Outlaws debt slavery
• All Athenian citizens can speak at the assembly
• Any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers

Finally was Cleisthenes Reforms in 500BCE; 

• All citizens could submit laws for debate at the assembly 
• Created the Council of Five Hundred, members chosen randomly who would meet to council the assembly and consider laws
• Only free adult male property owners born into Athens were considered to be a citizen
• Women, slaves and "foreigners" are not citizens

Thats as far as we got today.